Really taking to heart everybody's concerns about the "contagious" word, but still wanting to do something with the public health threat, I put this together. I feel kind of fearmonger-y, but at the same time, it's TRUE! And, honestly, people should be scared IMO. Feedback, please.

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ps Wanted to mention also that I hope not too many people are having trouble viewing these big images. I tried, but they're resized about as small as they can go & still be easy to read & view.

Really taking to heart everybody's concerns about the "contagious" word, but still wanting to do something with the public health threat, I put this together. I feel kind of fearmonger-y, but at the same time, it's TRUE! And, honestly, people should be scared IMO. Feedback, please.

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ps Wanted to mention also that I hope not too many people are having trouble viewing these big images. I tried, but they're resized about as small as they can go & still be easy to read & view.

Taking a break now, feeling a bit crashy.

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I think this is great! I love the use of the red cross with bullet holes! You really are extremely talented!

I guess we would want just a tiny bit more information in case the answer is no. If the answer is no, it could lead to even greater dismissal of our concerns. BUT, if, as we all suppose, the answer is yes...

You really are fantastically talented!

I don't know why you would need to take a break given all you have been doing is functioning as a full service PR Firm with in house Graphic design?

Hey, have not managed to break away yet - but wanted to say before naptime that those aren't bullet holes, it's a picture of XMRV cells. Doesn't communicate, I'm thinking? OK, nighty night for real this time.

Hey, have not managed to break away yet - but wanted to say before naptime that those aren't bullet holes, it's a picture of XMRV cells. Doesn't communicate, I'm thinking? OK, nighty night for real this time.

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FWIW, I didn't see bullet holes but viral-y cells, and the image communicated the message to me very powerfully. BUT, just to be sure I don't have viruses on the brain (well, make of that what you will) I just asked my most unimaginative, un-artistic, non-medical and infinitely practical husband what he saw ... without him seeing the words underneath.

I think your red cross with the XMRV virus is brilliant. I got it right away. Did I say brilliant?

But . . . I hate to say this . . . maybe better now than too late . . . The Red Cross may not allow us to use a symbol that is representative of them. I would expect you to get a "cease and desist" letter from their lawyers immediately. Maybe one of our forum legal minds can sort this out. This is my fear, anyway.

The one idea I like is, if we were to use this symbol, to come out loud and strong until told to stop.

I have just one more comment about "Let's find out" Bear with me cuz the fog is thick but I remember a couple of things from a time before the fog rolled in.

"Let's find out." asks for the reader's cooperation and begs the answer, "no thanks". People look at copy and have a little dialogue in their head. We don't want to set in motion a dialogue we don't control

People respond better to direct uncomplicated instructions. "Find Out" Tells them exactly what to do. Once the idea is planted and they are hooked, they should be directed to a website, the next pg. of the brochure, etc., where they find compelling, scary but true, reasons why research is needed.

This next step should trigger anxiety and self interest: "Many viruses have been implicated in CFS including the recently discovered retro-virus XMRV which may be linked to prostate cancer... "

"Find Out" has urgency. We don't actually launch into answers which cannot be substantiated but, rather, the alarming situation which requires action - money for research.

But . . . I hate to say this . . . maybe better now than too late . . . The Red Cross may not allow us to use a symbol that is representative of them. I would expect you to get a "cease and desist" letter from their lawyers immediately. Maybe one of our forum legal minds can sort this out. This is my fear, anyway.

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This is very true. I think this would probably be actionable - not that I know anything about law. But, the Logo is sacrosanct for every institution and especially so for the Red Cross. When I saw it as a sign with bullet holes, it was less a Red Cross logo and more abstract. Still wouldn't have got past them, though.

A bag of blood would be less strong graphically but get across the same message. Maybe the letters that comprise blood could be dripping from the bag...

Also, Koan, my concern with "Find out" is that - and somebody said this, Mark maybe? - they might try to find out via Wikipedia or something and 'find out', Oh, it's nothing! We only want them to find out from US! And I want it to convey that the answers are not yet necessarily available but it's very important that they be found.

As has been said a few times in this thread already, naming is a big problem. The ideas I've been working on don't focus on the name though, so shouldn't suffer from that confusion.

I suppose it may be a bit early, and without some degree of recognition in the population as a whole it may not work.

I've focused on the idea of 'US'.

US being an inclusive group of people affected by ME/CFS/CFIDS, and those affected by other illnesses and misdiagnosed, plus friends family and colleagues. The idea being to make the advocacy group as big as it can possibly be.
(In the same way that CFS is a problem here in the UK, I realise that US could be troublesome the other side of the pond).

The US in this case stands for 'Umbrella Syndrome'.

An initial idea on how this could be used:

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(the above could be a teaser, followed up by similar, but with additional text.
Alternatives could be between 1 and 3 of the following:

Psychiatrists tarred with the same brush as their CBT/GET peddling medieval colleagues. (I know that won't fly, I just liked it)

Your children in the future
Their children.......

I also wanted to include those misdiagnosed and suffering with something else.
Would need wording sorting out, but I've read of mitochondria being misdiagnosed for years, and there must be thousands of others caught in the umbrella and not getting treated, when their condition may have nothing to do with ME/CFS/CFIDS.
So:
Wrongly diagnosed Lyme disease sufferers
Wrongly diagnosed mitochondria sufferers

Could soldiers and PTSD be included?

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Other ideas are just phrases that could be included in some way:

Are you one of US?
Are you with US?
Help US

and linking to the missing people in photos:
One of US is missing
One of our team is missing

(As an aside, for the group pictures with missing people, how about parties. Birthday's Christmas etc?)

With US as the core of this, it gives scope to use WE, ME, THEM, THEY as well.

My graphics abilities are are a bit iffy, so what I've done are just a basic idea.
Here's the logo:

Hi blackbird. I like your idea here. Us. Me (and M.E.)/Us. (And U.S. - although, ack, US, as in USA?) It's reminding me of Levi's "Unexplained Illness" thread, with the Joint Resolution - have you read it? There's definitely a need to take awareness beyond CFS, as there is clearly a lot of unexplained illness going on, and much of it is being disregarded.

Soldiers with Gulf War Syndrome would certainly be part of that (Nancy Klimas is looking at XMRV in that, as you probably know).

Somewhere on here George posted a summary of illnesses once thought to be psychosomatic, now organic, a la "100 yrs ago we thought....50 yrs ago we thought..." MS, Ulcers, Narcolepsy. That seems like the strongest case to be made that in the future we'll find out all these Unexplained Illnesses are organic.

So, I see this as a separate thing from the CFS/OUT thing, yes? It's much broader. Seems important - though it might be a challenge to implement a whole new name for that group of illnesses. (ETA: It occurs to me that possibly just "Unexplained Illnesses" could be the name, still using the US and the umbrella motif?)

Somewhere on here George posted a summary of illnesses once thought to be psychosomatic, now organic, a la "100 yrs ago we thought....50 yrs ago we thought..." MS, Ulcers, Narcolepsy. That seems like the strongest case to be made that in the future we'll find out all these Unexplained Illnesses are organic.

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Only the other day, I was thinking how a famous old quote/poem could be reworded:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Jew;
Then they came for meand there was no one left to speak out for me.

I got this far:

First they said was all in the mind
Then they said was all in the mind
Then they said was all in the mind
And now there is M.E. and they say it's all in my mind

and thought that as an ad campaign, you could add a question at the end with 'You' in it. Though a link to US might work.

I hadn't worked out what to put in as the most known hardest hitting illnesses of the past.
Obviously the 'was all in the mind' bit would need changing to hysteria, or whatever was applicable to the chosen conditions.